This invention relates to clamps, and more particularly clamps of a type employed to hold a plurality of elongated articles in spaced relation.
In a modern tractor-trailer hookup the tractor is not only connected mechanically to the trailer but also electrically and pneumatically. More specifically, electrical wires or cables are provided to conduct electricity from the tractor to the trailer for a variety of purposes, including lighting the trailer; in addition, hoses or tubes associated with the pneumatic braking system of the trailer run between the tractor and the trailer. Generally, to keep these hoses, cables, tubes and wires from becoming entangled or damaged, they may be bundled together or held in a fixed relationship by various known clamping or retaining apparatus. Merely bundling of these articles together without maintaining them in a fixed relationship, however, may not prevent excessive relative motion between adjacent articles and the resulting frictional wear.
Employing clamps with fixed size wells or pockets to maintain the articles in a fixed relationship may be effective to prevent relative motion, but such clamps are not well adapted for use with various sizes of hoses, cables or wires. In addition, the need for employing a plurality of clamps to accommodate all of such hoses, wires and cables, and the possibility that each clamp may include a plurality of components may result in a great multiplicity of parts which may become disassociated, lost or broken.